Written Answers. - EU Presidency.
Denis Foley
Question:
31
Mr. Foley
asked the
Minister for Social Welfare
the plans or programmes, if any, which will be placed on the agenda for Ireland's forthcoming Presidency of the EU, with particular reference to the social welfare portfolio.
[10369/96]
It will be a priority for the Minister for Social Welfare, and myself, during the Irish Presidency of the European Union to take all possible steps to advance the objectives which are set out in Article 2 of the Treaty of European Union concerning high levels of employment, social protection and social cohesion.
The major current strand to EU activity in my area of responsibility is the debate launched by the European Commission last October on "The Future of Social Protection". The purpose of this debate is to address, in a spirit of co-operative reflection, the common challenges facing all member states in this area.
It will be a principal aim to advance this debate in a positive framework and with due regard to the Treaty objectives I referred to above. To this end, the Minister will host, in Dublin Castle on 10-11 July 1996, an informal Council meeting of Ministers for Social Security, which will focus on the issue which Ministers agreed at the Social Affairs Council on 29 March was the greatest challenge facing us—the need to ensure that social protection systems contribute positively to the fight against unemployment.
My Department will also host two conferences which will address further issues in this debate. The first, entitled "Social Security: Beyond Equal Treatment", will take place on 10-12 October 1996. This conference is being co-hosted with the EU Commission with input from the social security sub-group of the EU Network of Experts on the Implementation of the Equality Directives. It will be a forum for discussion among key policy makers and national experts within the EU on how to ensure that our systems are capable of addressing the particular needs of women.
The second conference, "New Directions in Social Welfare", will be held on 14-16 November 1996 and is being co-hosted with the European Foundation of the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions. The objective is to focus on new policies and approaches towards social protection, either recently implemented or under consideration, in member states. The issues of unemployment and social exclusion will be to the fore in this conference. Drawing on all the strands of this debate, I intend proposing to my European colleagues that, at the Social Affairs Council in early December, we take stock of the issues which have arisen and aim to draw conclusions and principles which we could each bring to bear in the work of developing our systems at national level. Again, I will be seeking to lay particular stress on the need to address unemployment and social exclusion.
In addition to leading this debate on the future of social protection, I hope to be in a position to advance a number of legislative instruments within the Social Affairs Council relating to improving the social security rights of migrant workers and to the ongoing implementation of Equal Treatment in Social Security.
